UN WOMEN Jobs - 75698- Project Assistant (Open to Kyrgyzstan Nationals On

Project Assistant (Open to Kyrgyzstan Nationals Only)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

11-Dec-2017

Application Deadline :

26-Nov-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SC-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months with possible extension

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

This is a project funded position with no expectation of renewal.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UN Women was established by GA resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010 on system-wide coherence, with a mandate to assist Member States and the UN system to progress more effectively and efficiently towards the goal of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. Since 2001 UN Women (previously as UNIFEM) in Kyrgyzstan has implemented catalytic initiatives on promoting women’s economic, political and social rights. In 2012 a full Country Office was established.

The UN Women Country Office in the Kyrgyz Republic will be implementing two projects under the Women, Peace and Security portfolio: “Inclusive Governance and Justice System for Preventing Violent Extremism” - a joint project with UNDP, UNICEF, and OHCHR and “Communities Resilient to Violent Ideologies” a joint project with UNICEF and UNFPA. Both projects support the Peacebuilding Priority Plan (PPP) agreed between Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the United Nations in October 2017 and address PPP Outcome Areas 1 and 3.

The first project is expected to enhance justice and security sector institutions, national and local authorities’ capacity and ability to apply socially inclusive approaches, participatory decision-making and guarantee increased civic space to address the root causes of and strengthen resilience against violent extremism.

The theory of change of the first project posits that if state institutions, justice and security agencies are equipped with inclusive methodologies and expertise on PVE and if they are able to effectively implement participatory decision-making and legislative reforms in line with Human Rights and Rule of Law norms with the support of civil society representatives, then they will be able to engage in a more positive engagement with citizens leading to the reduction of potential drivers to violent extremism.

The second project is aimed at strengthening community resilience to violent ideologies by engaging young women and men in community life and empowering them to demand and exercise their rights in an inclusive and non-violent manner. The project targets outcomes that provide alternative pathways away from violent and manipulative ideologies in ten pilot municipalities yet to be determined by taking a multidimensional approach through education, community development, participation and partnerships as well as through the cultural domain and digital space. The project will provide civic competencies and promote multilingualism through education, thus expanding opportunities for adolescents and youth to engage in socio-political and economic life.

The theory of change of the project posits that if women and men, boys and girls in the communities have critical thinking skills and able to positively claim and exercise their rights through civic engagement, then they will become resilient to violent and manipulative ideologies, because they will have a sense of belongingness to their communities and confidence in the state.

With the aim to ensure effective implementation of the PBF-funded projects, UN Women Kyrgyzstan office plans to contract a Project Assistant who will be responsible for project related support, both administrative and programmatic. The assignment will feature periodic field missions to often remote project areas across Kyrgyzstan throughout the year. The project assistant will support monitoring and evaluation of project implementation and documentation of lessons learned. S/he will help coordinate implementing partners.

The Project Assistant promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations and commits to display and ensure high standards of quality, productivity and timeliness in the delivery of tasks and in presenting UN Women. The Project Assistant will meet and apply the highest standards of integrity and impartiality and commit to the UN Women mandate.

The incumbent will thus be fully dedicated to the mandate and the values of UN Women, particularly to promoting Gender Equality as a strategy to reduce conflict, improve livelihoods and ensure fairness and justice; to Women Empowerment underpinning Gender Equality promotion efforts; to inter-ethnic tolerance and concord; and to respect for diversity.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the National Project Coordinator, the Project Assistant works under the overall supervision of the International Programme Specialist, and the general guidance of the Representative. S/he closely works with the Country Office Operations Unit and the Programme Team. S/he will specifically support the implementation of the above-mentioned project activities, providing programme and administrative support as per UN Women rules and guidelines.

More specifically, the Project Assistant will perform the following tasks:

1.Supports formulation of programme strategies and the Annual Work Plan focusing on achievement of the following results:

Assist in ensuring that all programmatic inputs under the project are available on time and in full compliance with the respective UN Women rules and regulations;
Supports in collection, analysis and presentation of information for identification of areas for support and programme implementation;
Provides assistance in monitoring of programme delivery against work plans and coordination between regional and country levels. Prepares and contributes to information, reports and other documentation related to the Project activities;
Provides assistance in timely preparation of background for progress, narrative & final reports for the Project;
Contributes to and provides assistance for finalization of Annual Work Plans and Procurement Plans for country levels;
Provides assistance in any research and data collection efforts related to the project activities, tracks required information and follows up on correspondence under project activities;
Conducts missions to project site to assist in monitoring of activities and to assist with facilitating project progress;
Supports development of information material for and on the project;
Assists with recruitment of consultants/personnel in line with UN Women rules and regulations.

2.Provides effective support administrative and financial support to the projects as follows:

Ensures timely and effective assistance to day-to-day project implementation by fulfilling project, administrative, HR, financial and logistical tasks in conformity with expected results and project work plans;
Provides assistance in preparing and modifying project budgets, implementing control mechanism for budget monitoring, preparing annual and monthly expenditure plans;
Maintains accurate personnel records of the project as required by UN Women;
Provides assistance in handling with procurement contracts for goods and services;
Maintains project equipment and servicing as well as its records;
Ensures the maintenance of a filing system, reports or other documentation related to the programme and administrative matters of the project in hard and electronic formats;
Provides assistance in organizing and holding seminars; conferences, trainings, and meetings;
Obtains necessary information and documents regarding financial records or projects expenditures;
Provides assistance in preparation and submission of the Requests for Payment (PR), Travel Requests, Travel Expense Claims and Requests for Contract with complete package of supporting documents at regional and country levels.
Acts as translator / interpreter as necessary to the project team and the Representative;
Ensures compliance of project, administrative and operations activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and strategies;
Any related tasks required for the smooth running and success of the projects, and on a case by case needs basis, other projects or the Country Office.

Competencies

Corporate:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standard;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional:

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Shares knowledge and experience;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills;
Ability to analyse complex situations from a position of impartiality;
Ability to concisely and to the point document information and findings, targeting a specific audience.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results Management, including support to design, planning and implementation of the projects, managing data , reporting;
Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new system including new IT based systems;
Good knowledge of Results Management Guide and Toolkit.

Leadership and Self-Management:

Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure, uses skills of diplomacy;
Ability to prioritize and manage competing priorities, grasping the situation quickly;
Ability to conduct advocacy on sensitive issues, not avoiding but processing conflict.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Bachelor Degree in Management, Business Administration, Economics, Political or Social Science, or a relevant field.

Experience required:

Three years of relevant administrative and/or programme experience at national and/or international level; part time experience can be pro-rated up to one year;
Experience with programme/project implementation;
Experience with gender equality, women empowerment related projects an advantage;
Strong numerical skills;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.);
Experience of field support to projects a distinct advantage;
Previous work experience with UN Agencies, government agencies and international development partners highly desirable;
Knowledge of ERP an advantage;
Knowledge of UN procurement rules and processes an advantage.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English and Russian, working knowledge of Kyrgyz;
Knowledge of Uzbek an advantage.

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted! Candidates can only be shortlisted if they profess to meet all the mandatory requirements in the Job Description. All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women, UNDP or UN Personal History form (P11) in English which can easily be found via web search. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment which must include the P11. Please carefully respond to the requirements of the Job Description in the P11 that you submit.

Applications without the completed P-11 form are incomplete and will NOT be considered for further assessment!